Tag Archives: dooce

Favorite (and not so favorite) Things

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I find myself checking out dooce.com when I should be doing other things. Its one of my favorite ways to procrastinate online (following checking email and facebook as well as other miscellaneous sites).

Yesterday on dooce’s blog she (a.k.a. Heather Armstrong) posted her own answers to a question from Gettysburg Mom, a user on the dooce community forum. At the end of her post she asks us, her readers, what our answers are.

I was inspired to answer her question here on my own blog. Here we go:

FAVORITE THINGS about the holiday season:

-Specialy treats flavored with pumpkin, cinnamon, clove, and cardomom (but not all at once). Oh, and hot cider. Yum.

-Christmas music. I love to hear it and sing it. Will liked singing Christmas music last year and I have a hunch he will like it even more this year! (I have this fantasy that we will get all dressed up and go Christmas caroling. … that will most likely stay a fantasy unless someone else makes it happen).

-Wrapping presents. (Heather, I would wrap yours were I in town. I LOVE to wrap presents. I make them mini-works of art.)

-Christmas trees.

-Celebrating Christmas at my mom’s. She always makes the house so cozy and her Christmas trees are so lovingly decorated. Christmas is just not “Christmas” if I can’t be with her in her home.

-Watching my son’s growing love of celebration and ceremony. He loves to sing Christmas songs and he likes the stories and ritual behind it. He also loves seeing his family!

LEAST FAVORITE THINGS about the holiday season:

-Christmas shopping. I invariably shop for myself when I should be shopping for others. … I just don’t know what people want (that I can afford). … I know from my own experience that when I receive a gift that I just can’t use or don’t want to use I feel guilty and burdened. I love the thought of the gift and, I especially love looking at the wrapped version of the gift and the opening of the gift but, too seldom do I find something inside that I need or want. Sorry! (See? I feel guilty just admitting it.) I would rather receive a note with an announcement of a donation made to a community who needs water or education.

-Being cold. Moving to the San Francisco Bay Area helped out a lot in this department. (Especially now that I migrated over to the East Bay.) I would freeze my a** off in Portland, Oregon (where I moved from 6 years ago).

-Bad Christmas Music. This needs no explanation, right?

-Bad Christmas Food/Drink. You are what you eat. And I don’t want to be crap. I don’t want to feel like it either.

-Driving from the SF Bay Area to Portland. That’s how we get there (if we’re going). It was easy when Will was a baby, he would just sleep most of the way. He’s 3 now. We have to do the trip in two days to ease the many “pains” for us all involving Will’s comfort level. (Its better on our backs too.)

-Pressure and obligations. This means different things to different folks, I am sure. And it varies a bit from year to year for myself. (This could be a whole ‘nother blog post.)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Enjoy yourself and the ones you love. And, consider doing something for others whether it be a smile, or something like a donation to help build a well for a community who desperately needs water.

You choose. You always have a choice.

so much on my mind… here is a peak (on blogging):

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It has been over two months since I have last blogged. I have twittered here and there and been active somewhat on Facebook. But here is the real meat. The longer deeper posting realm.

I keep struggling with what it means to blog, why do it and how much to reveal.

Writing is therapeutic and it records. I like that. But, I don’t want to write things that make me uncomfortable knowing that others may read this. I think that is the long and short of it.

The real (in a nutshell) problem seems to be my self confidence which is related to wondering “who am I really?” and the silly questions that I ask myself a lot like “why do I do what I do?”.

I find blogging to be not only therapeutic and a way to record events, thoughts, and such, but also a neat way to “be” in the world. The act of blogging is a path. It takes you somewhere just like anything else in life. You act and the world reacts to you. Even if no one reads this I still am having an experience outside of myself because am recording this and, it has the potential to be read.

One of my favorite bloggers is Heather Armstrong also known as “dooce”. She made #26 on a list of 30 of the most influential women in media by Forbes Magazine of which Oprah was #1. Heather’s blog is at dooce.com. Reading her experience of life and the way she chooses to share it is funny as well as inspiring. She has shared things that most people would not have. Most would be embarrassed, ashamed, or afraid of hurting others by sharing personal things about them. I think this is what makes her so compelling. She breaks taboos and, she has a funny writing style.

I might define dooce as “having or indicating such grossness of mind as precludes delicacy and discrimination” (this also happens to be the Merriam-Webster definition of “crass”)

Until my next post, join me in celebrating transparency by doing what you say and saying what you mean.